Fear and Loathing in Geekdom: Comic Creators to Watch!

I like to think I’ve been lucky in terms of the comic creators I’ve gotten to do with panels with or interview over the years. I mean lucky in both a personal sense and a professional sense. In personal terms, 99% of the people I have met in the comic book industry are fun and nice. As it stands, I’ve only had one occasion where I came away with a less than awesome time and even that particular interaction was just weird as opposed to bad.

Professionally, I also have had the dumb luck to meet comic creators just before they are about to hit it big. Mike Del Mundo and Adam Gorham are prime examples of that. With that in mind, I thought I’d shine a spotlight on some creators who I think are great and are probably going to be in your pull boxes within the next year or two if they aren’t already.

Tini Howard

I met Tini at a writing panel I was moderating at this year’s Toronto Comic Con. I had done a little bit of research on her before the panel and after talking with her, she had completely sold me on trying out her stuff. Hell, she nearly sold me on reading a Pink Ranger comic, which is totally not my thing. Tini currently serves as a writer on The Magdalena from Top Cow which, much like the other Image revivals we’ve seen this year of The Wildstorm and Youngblood, gets back to the core concept and does something really cool with it. Tini is also taking the reins of Hack/Slash which I’ve always loved the concept but felt was missing something. I think Tini might be able to find that missing piece. She’s also got a book coming out with Gilbert Hernandez called Assassinistas from the Black Crown imprint at IDW. Oh, there’s also The Skeptics at Black Mask. Tini is talented and has proven she can do some original stuff with old concepts as well as create brand new ones.

Jon Davis-Hunt

If you’ve been following my column, you know that I’ve developed a good sized man-crush on Jon Davis-Hunt. I have no idea why I hadn’t heard of him before The Wildstorm, but more people should be paying attention to that book and Gail Simone’s Clean Room because this dude should be at the front of every comic publisher’s want list if and when he has time to draw another comic. His work is clean and detailed. He can do amazing action scenes and still capture quiet moments perfectly. In a perfect world, I’d love The Wildstorm collaboration between Jon and writer Warren Ellis to go on for years.

Corin Howell

I met Corin Howell at a convention sketch duel I hosted. I felt really bad because when she came up to the stage, I thought she was a friend of a friend, not one of the artists I was waiting for. Her sketches were really impressive and I made a mental note to look into her work. Corin has worked on Transformers, X-Files: Origins and Kill Shakespeare: Juliet and has been quietly killing it for the past little while. I think she’s about to make some big noise as she has been announced as the artist on Ghostbusters: Answer The Call mini-series from IDW. This series is to feature the women of the 2016 Ghostbusters film and is written by Kelly Thompson. Corin is perfect for this book as I think she’ll both nail it and push her abilities to their limit.

Jay Fosgitt

I almost feel bad about putting Jay on this list because I think everyone should know him already. Katie Cooke suggested that I check out his creator owned book, Bodie Troll, a couple of years ago and I’ve been keeping an eye on him ever since. In the last year, he’s done covers for Marvel, worked on My Little Pony and works his ass off at conventions doing sketches and meeting and greeting fans. I have a feeling this is really going to pay off for him very soon. He’ll either get the right book at the right time or maybe everyone else will catch up to the awesomeness that is Bodie Troll. Either way, I have a feeling something good is coming his way soon.

What comic artists and writers should I add to this list? Please feel free to post your suggestions in the comment section below!